Long term outpatient lithium maintenance and psychotherapy groups involving bipolar patients or married couples with one bipolar member have provided a stable population for outpatient research efforts. Studies have emphasized (a) group dynamics and efficacy of group therapy with bipolar patients, (b) patterns of material and family interactions associated with the illness, (c) child development and affective responses in infants with a bipolar parent. This year time-limited group psychotheraphy has been a new focus of research, involving homogeneous populations of rapid-cycling patients with their spouses and homogeneous groups of unipolar depressed patients. A followup study of the outcome of rapid-cycling illness is nearly complete. Collaborative research into the phenomenology and psychobiology of seasonal affective disorders has begun.